Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation and Fenn Educational Fund provide $206,000 to support creation of 40 new internships

CLEVELAND (Tuesday, January 6, 2015) – Cleveland State University has received $206,000 in grants from two organizations to expand internship opportunities for liberal arts majors by working with local partners to match students with applicable work experiences.

CSU received $113,908 from the Career Ready Internship grant program administered by the Madison, Wisconsin-based Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, and a $92,000 grant from the Fenn Educational Fund of the Cleveland Foundation. The program will support the creation of 40 new, paid internships with manufacturers, nonprofits, and local governments.

For up to 25 of the new internships, CSU will partner with five regional organizations – Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, Cleveland Water Alliance, Business Volunteers Unlimited, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture, and Northeast Ohio Mayors and City Managers Association – to identify paid internship opportunities among their affiliate organizations, many of which may not have hired interns previously. The internships will be for spring and summer sessions and will be for liberal arts majors who demonstrate financial need.

The remaining paid internships will be created in manufacturing companies with support from organizations connected to firms in Northeast Ohio, including MAGNET, Wire-Net, BioEnterprise, the President’s Council, and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

“Internships provide valuable workplace skills and networking opportunities that often lead to job offers after graduation, and these grants will develop additional opportunities for major programs where there are often fewer paid positions,” said Mitzi Vazquez-Long, Director of Talent Development for CSU’s Career Success Network.

The funds will subsidize a portion of the interns’ salary as a way to incentivize employers to create new positions. Additionally, students are eligible for partial reimbursement of travel expenses to manufacturing firms located at longer distances from the CSU campus.

About Great Lakes

Dedicated to making college education a reality since 1967

Knowing that education has the power to change lives for the better, Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates was established as a nonprofit group focused on a single objective: helping students nationwide prepare for and succeed in postsecondary education and student loan repayment. As a leading student loan guarantor and servicer, we have been selected by the U.S. Department of Education to provide assistance and repayment planning to nearly 9 million borrowers – as well as assistance to colleges and lenders nationwide. Our group’s earnings support one of the largest and most respected education philanthropy programs in the country. Since 2006, we have committed nearly $130 million in grant funding to promote higher education access and completion for students of color, low-income students, and first-generation students. For additional information, visit home.mygreatlakes.org.